GOLIAD – The death of a 38-year-old Goliad man whose body was found near Warrick Street on July 4 has been ruled a homicide.

Christoval Lee Garza's body was found by a resident at approximately 5 a.m. on July 4. Goliad County Sheriff's Office investigators announced Friday that the autopsy report from Central Texas Autopsy in Lockhart revealed Garza's death was the result of blunt force trauma to the torso.

"We have spent countless hours in the past week following leads," GCSO investigator John Pape said in a statement to the Advance-Guard. "We have reconstructed the last hours of Chris Garza's life and are continuing our investigation. Because of the nature of the investigation and the large number of leads we have followed, this is proving to be a very intense, time-consuming investigation but progress is being made."

GCSO had originally thought Garza's death may have occurred from a fall.